Feature Stories
Modern Drummer is the world’s most widely read drum magazine, is dedicated entirely to the art of drumming and caters to the needs of amateur, semi-pro, and professional drummers.
Tony Reedus: Influential Jazz Drummer
Reedus was known for consistently lighting a fire under musicians of every stripe. “Tony was not only a great drummer who played with exceptional depth of feeling that was very danceable,” recalls esteemed jazz drummer Lewis Nash, “he was also…
Mike Wengren: Disturbed’s Storm-Bringer
Mike Wengren was born September 3, 1971, and started playing the drums around age ten. In 1996, before Disturbed achieved the rock stardom they enjoy today, they were known as Brawl and featured Wengren on drums, Dan Donegan on guitar,…
Henry Adler : Legendary Drum Teacher
Drumming pioneer, music retailer, author, and teacher Henry Alder was born in New York on June 28, 1915. His first professional playing job took place when he was fifteen years old at the Belmar Hotel in New Jersey. He subsequently…
Bill Bruford: The Autobiography
The Reasons To Love feature in the March 2011 issue of Modern Drummer is dedicated to progressive-rock and jazz-fusion icon Bill Bruford, who’s recently released his autobiography. Watch Bill talk about his fascinating new book here: https://youtu.be/6wS72k3zCBQ
Tony “Thunder??? Smith: Lou Reed’s Sensitive Powerhouse
(March 2011 Issue) by Rich Mangicaro Tony “Thunder” Smith is one happy guy. Ever since I first met him over twenty years ago, I’ve found that joy and excitement just emanate from him when he’s talking about music. He couldn’t…
Chris Pennie: Get Good: Studio Sounds
The March 2011 issue’s “Get Good: Studio Sounds” feature concerns itself with helping you get the drum sounds that you have in your head onto the final recording. Among the experts we spoke to were Steven Nistor, who’s recorded with…
The Black Eyed Peas’ Keith Harris
(From the February 2011 Issue of Modern Drummer magazine) by Stephen Styles Growing up in a Chicago church, a young Keith Harris aspired first and foremost to be a great drummer. After watching his mentor Henry Jones hold down the…
Jimmy Bralower: Web Exclusive
by Billy Amendola “Jimmy Bralower pioneered the trail of what we programmers were to become—co-creators connecting the artist with technology, while retaining the musicality and expressiveness with what the future tools of creativity offered to us. Those who worked with…
Daniel Glass: Living History
Daniel Glass is an award-winning drummer, author, historian, and educator best known for helping to usher in the resurgence of swing with renowned L.A. group Royal Crown Revue. RCR held headlining spots on the Van’s Warped Tour in ’97 and…
What Do You Know About…John Weathers
(January 2011 Issue) Weathers On Record: Classic Giant Tracks, 1972–77 by Will Romano To connoisseurs of daring first-wave progressive rock, Gentle Giant was hugely important—as awe-inspiring, in its own way, as ELP, Genesis, and Yes. Here we look at…
Richie Hayward: The MD Interviews, Part 2
MD Online’s Richie Hayward archival series continues with the recently deceased Little Feat drummer’s October 1995 cover story, in which he talked at length about his playing concepts, his work outside of Little Feat, and the making of the band’s…
Jean-Paul Gaster: Web Exclusive: Plenty more with the Clutch powerhouse
(from the November 2010 Issue of Modern Drummer, available here) by Billy Brennan In the January issue of MD, Clutch drummer Jean-Paul Gaster reflects on the band’s reissues of its three DRT Entertainment releases—From Beale Street To Oblivion (2007), Robot…
Spencer Dryden: Jefferson Airplane’s Dynamic Rhythm Machine
Spencer Dryden was the drummer of San Francisco psychedelic rock icons Jefferson Airplane. After graduating from the Army & Navy Academy in Carlsbad, California, in 1955, Dryden played in some early rock ’n’ roll bands, but showed a preference for…
Jeff Davis: Godfather Of Modern Gospel Drumming
Jeff Davis was not allowed to do anything musical outside of church growing up, so he simply looked for every opportunity to play that his mother would approve of. Davis’s dedication to the drums, and heartfelt spirituality, has led him…
